Ok, so I guess from now on, I am going to compute all the money I “wasted” for every stick of cigarette I consume.

Headline: Do you know how much you really spend on cigarettes?Advertising Agency: Master Comunicacao, Sao Paulo, Brazil

The ad is something new I suppose. I have seen a lot of “stop smoking” ads that show visuals of the diseases and the effect of this vice in the elements that surround a smoker. Now, here’s something to pinch our side pockets. As for the execution, it is well-visualized indeed. And if we consider the wrecked car as a single entry, it works well with the thought of how people would spend a huge amount of money. But if we consider both ads as a campaign, I think cars and fridges don’t match that good. And again, if we are talking about money, I think there are more serious issues that they can involve. Yet, the ad clearly states the first things that come in to consumers' mind when money comes in (I'm not sure with the fridge though).

Monday, August 17, 2009

Upon my random researches in the net, I chanced upon this article about the horrible incident occurred 2 years ago, where a 17-year old Kudish girl was stoned to death because she did something that is prohibited in their religion.

She got married to a Muslim man and she was eventually converted to her husband’s religion.

She ran away yet she decided to go home – and that decision led her to a pit of merciless punishment.

The Yazidi or Yezidi is Kudish ethnicity where most of the people reside at Mosul, Northern Iraq and there are also traditional communities in Syria, Armenia, and Turkey. Their religious beliefs differ from Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. For them, too much contact with non-Yazidis a form of polluting their humanity. So if you’re a Yazidi, getting married with someone who was baptized under a different religion is definitely a grave offense.According to this site, killing women for honor, shame, and religion really happens in Kurdistan and Iraq. Indeed there are issues when violence against women was used as a political and religious weapon. I once wrote a blog about the women who were being raped outside the camp.

Honor killings are usually part of practices that some religions groups observe. In Middle East, this is quite rampant since they are firm when it comes to marriage. There are reports that these honor killings are sometimes ordered – resulting to “honor suicides” (which technically touches a foul play since some people "pressure" a person to commit such just to avoid penalties).

I don’t know if I conclude things right but religion sometimes becomes the root of unnecessary practices that do not respect human rights. I am not pertaining to the Yazidi alone because I suppose it is wrong to generalize these people. And I suppose, if someone would consider this statement as an accusation, well this accusation is not only applicable in their country but to different countries around the globe as well. Here in the Philippines, I heard stories about a certain religion where in they murder preachers from a group that opposes their teachings. The murderers weren’t caught, apparently because they are influential that even politicians woo them for support in their campaigns.

So, is killing considered honorable when you do it because of disobedience to the god you worship?

What kind of god allows his people to violate the right to live?

Does this god refuse to send a plague to punish the people’s defiance and he just uses his followers as a channel to castigate the offenders instead?

Doesn’t he know how to forgive?

Questioning other religions’ beliefs would be a long battle and nobody has the right to judge their faith.

But we have the intellect and freewill isn’t? So we can evaluate and choose what is right or wrong.

Now, to assess if religion poisons a person’s notion is up to our own judgment.

And to gauge and follow the credo inspired by the gods is our choice.Video: Here

Sunday, August 16, 2009

So the aspiring president, Senator Manny Villar is reserving a slot for Willie Revillame in his party.

Sadly, the “party” that I’m talking about is not a banquet with expensive wines and extravagant meals (that might cost $15,000 or more).

I’m talking about the Nacionalista Party.

According to the news, Villar said that Willie is qualified for being a Senator so he might as well be thinking about running under the NP ticket.

I would just want to ask if MV might want think to about his statement too.

What ‘s wrong with you, people?!

Last Senatorial election, we have Richard Gomez and Cesar Montano running for the post. It was irksome. But if Willie pushes through with this very shrewd suggestion of MV…

Irksome would be an understatement.

While writing this entry, I am actually thinking, what are these qualifications that MV saw to encourage Willie to run for the 2010 election as a Senator?

Was it his charm and humor as a TV host?Was it his capability to shut down a remarkable cortege?Was it his kindness for giving money to the underprivileged people who cry on national TV and render a dance or song number for the talent portion afterwards?Was it his popularity and huge influence to the mass?

I would totally understand if Willie becomes MV’s endorser, since having celebrities as endorsers is one of the tactics that they do during campaigns. And besides, he might hit the target audience too, considering the fact that he's hosting a TV show that targets and aids class C and D -- classes which perhaps cover half of the population.

Friday, August 7, 2009

The issue about Darfur Rape Cases once shocked and shamed the world for a lot of civilians, particularly women have been rape victims. They were the “target” of the Janjaweed militiamen since they are the ones who go out of the camp to get firewoods for their community. Also, the reports found that rape and other forms of sexual violence were used as a weapon of war in a manner of humiliating, punishing, controlling and inflicting fear to women as well as to their communities. As I have understood, they are actually protecting their men from being killed to the point that getting raped is the only option to contribute something for their country.

The violation of human rights is clearly laid out yet the situation got worse until the government set “firewood patrols” to guide these women. But the project didn’t last that long because of some financial problems.

I can’t imagine the trauma brought by this experience to the victims. It may have occurred years ago but I suppose, the nightmare left remnants that are hard to forget. I just hope that they have at least recovered and become stronger no matter how painful those vestiges are.

As for the ad campaign I found, I applaud the people behind it. The thought and execution is well done.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

For the third time today, I am going to post something about print advertising. Yeah, ad overload. I’m not blaming my work though because I love what I’m doing.

Anyway, the first two photos are ads made by TBWA Santiago-Mangada-Puno, a local advertising agency that won various awards. This ad for Boysen actually bagged bronze in the recently concluded Cannes Lion. This campaign is actually one of my favorites too.

And then I chanced upon this ad campaign for condom, which has the same execution. The idea though is different because this all about condom usage while the former ad is about the “earth-friendly” contents of the paint.

And then there’s more. A new line of premium paint came out — Aura. An eco-friendly paint that wanted to express its benefits to the packaging itself.

Oh, well. The ideas are all brilliant. It’s just that the executions are really close that some people might think that one copied one from another. Advertising is so huge that you can’t really tell if your idea has been used or not. But I guess the important thing is, you know where your concept for the product stands. Positioning matters a lot, so does originality and copyright.

The death of the former President Cory Aquino brought an overwhelming effect to the Filipinos, because she was known as the Mother of Democracy. Because of her courage, the Philippines has been freed from Martial Law.

Apparently her death that drawn a lot of big people and commoners who have admired and supported her along the way, also attracted commercialism. People started selling yellow shirts, yellow ribbons, yellow flowers, yellow everything – including yema. Businesses like Meralco started placing ads in newspapers thanking the late President. Politicians hang tarpaulins everywhere, showing their gratefulness to what Cory had contributed to our country. These things are predictable. We have seen these “tangible” condolences and gratitude many times before. Though some people might conclude that the posters and ads from the politicians are part of their comprehensive campaign, we can't actually judge for sincerity might still lie beneath their corporeal greetings.

Posters and tarpaulins are subtle though. But I think this is way too much:

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Words have the capability to sway people, to let people understand things, because words are powerful, are defined, and they convey meanings. But the strength words contain takes toll on people - when the usage of such is abuse. The recipient of abusive remarks seems to hit someone harder than a punch or slap on his face.

I was browsing the web when I chance upon these ads about verbal abuse on women. The idea I suppose is that, the painful effect of verbal attacks is the same as the excruciating effect of any physical assault.

Cory's battle for democracy succeeded 13 years ago and her battle for her own life began when her colon cancer was detected. She was once dubbed as the "Woman of the Year" by Times Magazine where her story of being a plain housewife turned into a woman led the Philippines to freedom from dictatorship was discussed, which definitely justified while she was honored in such way.

August 1, 2009... The Filipinos were shocked by the news telling that former President Cory Aquino passed away. Her "happy death" affected a lot of Filipinos and even the people from the other countries because Cory definitely embodies a woman of strength, a woman of courage, and certainly worthy to be dubbed now as the "Mother of Democracy".

The photos below were taken along Ayala Avenue, last August 3 when her remains were paraded from LaSalle Greenhills. Confetti were all over the place, yellow (her iconic color) dominated the street, the cry for her name echoed -- the whole scene made me cry. For the first time in my life, I felt how sad it was to lost a leader who once fought for our country.

Désaveu

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